Washington is buzzing with rumours that Bill Clinton may be about to notch another White House first by becoming the only former US president to publish a novel.

He has made no definite announcement about any future writing plans, but in recent days there have been recurring reports that he is trying to tempt publishers into a two-book deal which would cover his White House memoirs and a second - this time officially fictional - volume.

There have been no hints about the kind of subject matter Mr Clinton may be toying with, but as he struggles to adjust to life after the Oval Office his detractors have been quick to point out that he has never found much difficulty making up a story.

Several American presidents have been successful writers - Ulysses Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and John F Kennedy among them - but their literary legacies are stacked firmly on the non-fiction shelves.

The mere thought of a Clinton novel has got the gossip columnists chattering. The Washington Post has weighed in with a "Help Bill Write" contest in which readers are invited to think up a title and a catchy opening.

"They've sent in some wonderful suggestions," the columnist Al Kamen wrote yesterday, while refusing to unveil any examples until the contest closes this week.

Other columnists have been less restrained, their suitably Clintonesque suggestions including The Pardoner's Tale, Catcher in the Thigh, Devil with a Blue Dress On, From Rags to the Riches, and It Takes a Pillage.

Mr Clinton's spokeswoman said yesterday that he had made no decision about future writing plans.

His former aide Sidney Blumenthal, taking time off from writing a book about his own White House years, said: "He will certainly write his memoirs, but I think this could be the latest made-up story about the president."

A Clinton novel would be a guaranteed bestseller, and would complement other improbable literary efforts to which the former president and his household have lent their names, including a collection of letters to his dog Buddy and his now spurned cat Socks.